


Petals

by soft_blue_boy



Category: K-pop, NCT (Band), SM Rookies
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Awkward Mark Lee (NCT), Awkward Park Jisung (NCT), Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten is a Good Friend, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten is a Little Shit, Crushes, Established Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Nakamoto Yuta, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Frat Boy Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun, Gen, Hanahaki Disease, Jock Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun & Suh Youngho | Johnny Are Best Friends, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung & Lee Taeyong Are Best Friends, Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung Being an Asshole, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan & Mark Lee Are Best Friends, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan is Whipped, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan is a Little Shit, Lee Jeno is a Panicked Gay, Lee Taeyong & Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten Are Best Friends, Lee Taeyong & Nakamoto Yuta Are Best Friends, Lee Taeyong Needs a Hug, Lee Taeyong is Bad at Feelings, Lee Taeyong is Whipped, Liu Yang Yang and Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul are siblings, M/M, Mark Lee & Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas Are Best Friends, Mark Lee (NCT) is Whipped, Mentioned Huang Ren Jun, Mentioned Moon Taeil, Mentioned Wong Kun Hang | Hendery, Mentioned Xiao De Jun | Xiao Jun, Minor Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten/Qian Kun, Minor Kim Jungwoo/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Minor Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Minor Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin, Minor Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le, Moon Taeil is the dad friend, Mother Hen Qian Kun, Na Jaemin is a Brat, Na Jaemin is a Confident Gay, Nakamoto Yuta is a Little Shit, Other, Park Jisung & Lee Taeyong Are Siblings, Park Jisung & Zhong Chen Le Are Best Friends, Secret Crush, Shy Park Jisung (NCT), Slow Burn, Soft Dong Si Cheng | WinWin, Soft Park Jisung (NCT), Suh Youngho | Johnny is a Good Friend, Sweet Mark Lee (NCT), Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas is a Panicked Gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:48:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24273826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soft_blue_boy/pseuds/soft_blue_boy
Summary: Taeyong's lungs are filling up with flowers because he is so in love with Jaeyun.
Relationships: Dong Si Cheng | WinWin/Nakamoto Yuta, Jung Yoonoh | Jaehyun/Lee Taeyong, Kim Jungwoo/Wong Yuk Hei | Lucas, Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 12
Kudos: 59





	1. Chapter 1

He knelt on cold tile, head dangling above the toilet bowl. He couldn't stop; a hundred petals floated on the water, all different types and colours. White, pale pink, yellow, blue, orange. Japanese shrub roses, Chinese hibiscus, quince flowers, cherry blossoms.

Taeyong gasped at the sheer amount. It seemed like more and more came every day. The first time, it was just a few petals that escaped after a cough.

Why was this happening?

He stared at the mess. It was revolting; some of the petals were stained red with blood from where thorns and twigs had scratched his throat. How could something be so disgusting, yet so beautiful?

Taeyong stood up and flushed the toilet, then made his way to the sink. His whole body was weak. A single thought played in his mind; was he dying?

He quickly pushed the thought away. Instead, he looked in the mirror. In front of him, his reflection looked only half alive. His large doe eyes were blood shot, puffy and filled with tears. Few had made their way down his cheeks. There was blood dried at the corners of his mouth.

He hurried to wash his face and hands before he went back to his room, just in case he ran into his younger brother, or his mother.

Thankfully, he didn't. He opened his laptop at his desk. It was late, past midnight, but he typed his question anyway.

"Why am I throwing up flower petals?"

He clicked the first link, which of course was Wikipedia.

_Hanahaki disease is a sickness born from one-sided love. The sufferer's lungs fill up with flower petals, and they proceed to cough and throw up the petals._

Suddenly, his sickness made sense. It had started just as he had realised he had a crush, and though it hurt to think about, he wasn't surprised that it was unreciprocated.

_The only cure for the disease is if the patient's feelings are returned. If their feelings aren't returned in time, the patients lungs will fill up completely with the flowers and they will eventually suffocate._

After reading that final sentence, Taeyong shut the laptop. A wave of worry hit him as he laid down on his bed, staring at the dark ceiling above him.

How stupid was he, falling for SM High's it boy; Jeong Jaehyun. He was the rich kid, threw all the best parties in his dad's huge house by the lake. He played all the sports, although his specialty was boxing, of course. He was handsome, very handsome, and his body was amazing (due to all that sport).

Lee Taeyong was an idiot when it came to love, and it would literally be the death of him.

\---

  
Taeyong opened his locker, dumping the textbooks he didn't need on the shelf.

"Hyung, where do you think I should take Chenle for date night?" Jisung asked, leaning against the locker beside him. Taeyong smiled. At least his younger brother's love life wasn't tragic.

"Why don't you go to that American diner we went to last weekend? I bet he'll love it." Taeyong tided his locker a little bit, trying to busy himself.

Jisung gasped. "The one with the real jukebox? That's a great idea! I'm gonna go find him and tell him about it!"

Taeyong smiled and watched him walk off. As he did, someone else caught his eye. Jaehyun was there, standing against the lockers. Next to him was Johnny Suh, a fellow junior. Everyone knew Johnny was Jaehyun's right hand man, but also, he was everyone's friend. On the other side, there was Mark Lee, another junior and also the token "sweetheart" of the friend group, and his boyfriend, Haechan, a sophomore. Finally there was Lucas Wong. The taller guy had been pulled off to the side by his boyfriend, Jungwoo Kim, to have a mini make out in the middle of the hallway. Usually, that would be kind of gross, but they were a cute couple.

"Could you literally be any more obvious about your raging boner for Jeong Jaehyun!" Ten snapped Taeyong from the scene. The shorter male was practically dragging his boyfriend Kun behind him. Trailing behind them was Yuta.

"Hey, don't be so loud!" Taeyong hissed, snapping his head back to make sure no one in that friends' circle had heard. Thankfully, they hadn't.

"But if he hears, he at least knows how bad you want his cock in your-" Taeyong practically slapped his hand over his best friend's mouth.

"Where were you all weekend, anyway?" Yuta asked. "Jisung said you were sick."

"Yeah, I was," Taeyong sighed. "I'm all better now, though." Just as he finished his sentence, he turned his head and coughed, as if his words had triggered it, and a petal fell into the palm of his hand. He brushed it off quickly, letting it fall to the floor. His friends were all staring at him with wide eyes.

"Did you eat at your mother's flower shop?" Kun sounded like he was half joking and half concerned.

Taeyong shook his head, smiling sadly.

"Shit, do you have hanahaki?" Yuta asked. Taeyong nodded, surprised his friend knew about such a strange phenomenon until he remembered that Yuta was both Japanese and a weirdo.

"For Jaehyun?" Even Ten looked worried, his usual playful look gone. "Well, we'll have to help you win his heart."

And that's how the plan started.

\---

"Wait, so why are we doing this?" Doyoung asked, taking a mouthful of his rice. Ten had blurted his explanation incoherently due to his sheer excitement at the situation. He took a deep breath and tried again.

"We need to help Taeyong become irresistible to Jaehyun so he can stop puking flowers," he said, a lot slower this time.

"Flowers?" Doyoung turned to Taeyong, a concerned look on his face. "Why are you puking flowers?" Ten left no chance for Taeyong to answer.

"Because he likes Jaehyun, and Jaehyun doesn't feel the same way," he explained bluntly. Hearing those words leave his best friend's mouth hurt a little, but he did his best to brush it off, looking around their lunch table. It seemed like Yuta's boyfriend, Winwin was struggling to keep up with the complex conversation, as Kun was explaining again in Chinese.

"So we're going full chick flick?" Doyoung grinned. "I'm in."

"Why should Taeyong change himself for someone else?" Winwin asked, pouting.

"Okay, Winwin, normally that would be the cutest thing ever said," Ten said. "But Taeyong will literally die if we don't get Jaehyun to love him."

"It's still cute." Taeyong assured, reaching across the table to give Winwin's hand a soft squeeze before returning to his lunch.

"Honestly, I've never seen Jaehyun date anyone. We might need to crowd source some information," Yuta said.

"We are not telling anyone I like him!" Taeyong said, pointing his chopsticks at Yuta. "And if you tell anyone, I will take your kneecaps, Nakamoto."

"It's okay, we have connections. We can talk to his friends." Ten suggested. "Yuta can ask Johnny about it at basketball practice, and Mark at anime club. I'll ask Jungwoo at queer society, Doyoung can ask Haechan in chemistry, Winwin and Kun can ask Lucas at Korean support-"

"Lucas has a big mouth, he'll blurt it out to Jaehyun for sure." Kun interjected, not looking away from his food, which Winwin was eyeing up. He put a piece of chicken on the younger's plate, which was much appreciated.

"That's why we're not telling them who likes Jaehyun," Ten said, rolling his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You just say 'I've always been curious, what type of guy does Jaehyun like' and boom, you get your answer."

Taeyong felt the petals rising in his throat over this whole plan, but he did his best to hold them back.

"We can get all these answers by the end of the day, right?" Yuta said. "I have anime club next period, the same time Ten has queer society, and Korean support is in sixth period, when I have basketball."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Good," Ten smiled. "Taeyong, go heavy on the flirting, in the mean time."

"We can go to the mall after school." Doyoung suggested.

The bell rang, cutting the conversation short.

"Keep your eyes on the group chat!" Ten ordered, and then the group parted ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading!   
> Just to explain the classes of everyone  
> Seniors -> Kun, Taeil  
> Juniors -> Taeyong, Jaehyun, Johnny, Doyoung, Yuta, Ten, Jungwoo, Winwin, Mark, Lucas  
> Sophomores -> Haechan, Jeno, Jaemin, Renjun, Yangyang, Hendery, Xiaojun  
> Freshmen -> Jisung, Chenle


	2. Chapter 2

The group ended up in Kun's car with two extra passengers, crammed in the open trunk space.

"Good thing you have a mom-mobile, huh, baby?" Ten said from the passenger seat. "Otherwise the kids wouldn't fit."

"Why are they here anyway?" Doyoung questioned.

"Because," Jisung spoke up, "at Korean support, Chenle heard Kun and Winwin talking about going to the mall after school, and we wanted a ride!"

"If Yangyang wanted a ride," Ten laughed, "I'd drop him off at a crack den."

"And brother of the year goes to," Taeyong joked.

\---

When they pulled up to the mall (and released the two madly-in-love freshmen from the trunk) they began their action plan.

"So from what we gathered, Jaehyun likes cute twinks with an edgy style," Ten smiled. "You've got the cute twink part on lock, but..."

"But?" Taeyong questioned.

"Emo revival isn't it," Yuta took a piece of Taeyong's over grown brown hair between his fingers. "Emo died in in the 2010s for a reason."

"So Kun and Winwin are gonna stay with you at the hair salon," Doyoung smiled. "While Yuta, Ten and I work on your new wardrobe."

\---

A couple hours later, Taeyong was staring in the mirror at the salon with Winwin beside him, as Kun paid the stylist. The only senior of their friends' group had all but chanted Ten's specific instructions to the stylist, not leaving Taeyong any time to object. Now, in place of overgrown brown hair, he had a silver mullet, and honestly, he admired Ten's taste. He looked great! It was cute, but still edgy and eye-catching.

They met with the rest of the group in the food court. Ten, Doyoung and Yuta were surrounded by shopping bags from several different stores. They were joined by Chenle and Jisung, who had clearly bummed some money in order to buy nachos (probably from Ten, most likely on Kun's orders).

"Hyung! You look awesome!" Jisung exclaimed.

"Yes, he does!" Ten smiled proudly. "Taeyong, every guy in our school is going to want to bend you over a desk and fuck you until your eyes bleed!"

Jisung and Chenle clearly found Ten's weirdly poetic words funny; Jisung had almost choked on the food in his mouth, while Chenle's dolphin laugh rang clear over the loud noises of the food court, gaining some dirty looks from nearby strangers.

"Let's go back to yours and have a little fashion show," Yuta suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement.

They headed back to the car park and piled into Kun's mom-mobile.

\---

The lock clicked and the front door opened. Jisung and Chenle ran ahead, kicking off their shoes and leaving them in the middle of the hallway, making a beeline for the couch.

"Jisung, at least put your shoes away!" Taeyong huffed, taking the shoes and stacking them on the rack. His friends entered behind him and abandoned their own shoes as he shut the front door. He was practically dragged upstairs as soon his own shoes were off.

Ten and Yuta hurriedly searched through the shopping bags, while Doyoung sat down on the end of the bed. Kun made himself comfortable in an old bean bag. Winwin had seemingly headed to the kitchen to grab some snacks, as he was the only friend not yet in the room. Ten piled several items into Taeyong's arms and shoved him towards his en-suite bathroom.

He returned a few minutes later, and his friends practically squealed. Winwin (who was now sprawled across the bed, cradling a bag of Doritos) had even taken the courtesy of spraying crumbs everywhere. The outfit Ten had chosen for him was a pair of skin-tight faux leather pants with a criss-cross open lacing all the way up the sides, a fluffy baby blue sweater, and a pair of black creepers.

"I told you his ass would look great!" Ten exclaimed, slapping said ass, which earned a yelp from Taeyong.

Yuta nodded in agreement. "Still barely there, but it looks good."

Ten pushed Taeyong down into a seat at his desk. "I'll keep the makeup simple. Base, eyeshadow, liner."

Ten did his makeup quickly, and when Taeyong looked in the full body mirror that hung on his wardrobe door, he was impressed. He looked hot; even his friends were ogling him a bit.

"You're like...a magician." he laughed in slight shock, looking at the mirror again.

"Don't get too impressed. You were a good canvas," Ten said. "Now, sit. Yuta and I are gonna give you a lesson in flirting."

Taeyong sat down at the desk again. Doyoung was now sprawled on the floor, having been pushed off the bed by Yuta, who sat in the centre of the bed with Winwin's head on his lap, playing with his hair. Ten perched himself on the end, folding his legs over each other.

"Have you ever even flirted before?" Yuta questioned, raising an eyebrow. Taeyong felt his cheeks flame.

"Well no but-" Taeyong was cut off.

"Flirt with me," Ten ordered.

Taeyong smacked his best friend's arm. "Ten!"

"I'm just trying to help," he defended himself.

"They need to know how good you are," Doyoung reasoned.

"I think they're just perverts!" Winwin chimed in, shovelling more Doritos into his mouth.

"Maybe I am, and you know your boyfriend is." Ten turned back to Taeyong. "Okay, doing cute actions near him will catch his attention."

"Cute actions?" Taeyong tilted his head slightly, furrowing his eyebrows.

Yuta snapped his fingers, pointing at the action. "Exactly like that!" he smiled. "Also, that thing where you play with your hair! That'll make him fall for you for sure."

"You sit next to Jaehyun in English, right?" Ten asked. Taeyong nodded. "Okay, let's say he asks you for a pen. What do you do?"

Taeyong hesitated. "I... give him a pen?"

"But how? Be specific," Yuta prompted.

"I don't know, just give it to him."

Doyoung snorted from his place on the floor. "Kun, ask Ten for a pen."

"Hey, Ten, do you have a spare pen?" Kun asked.

Ten laughed slightly, then darted his tongue across his lips, a sly smile swiftly taking its place. "Did you forget you were coming to school?" Ten quipped, his grin glowing as he pretended to hand Kun a pen.

Suddenly, as the little roleplay in front of him ended, he felt the petals building, and he couldn't stop them this time. He jumped out of his seat and ran to the bathroom.


	3. Chapter 3

The bathroom was filled with soft banging on the door as Taeyong knelt by the toilet, bright petals spilling from his lips. He was heaving and choking. His friends' hushed voices came from the other side of the door, slathered in concern. Taeyong felt stupid, hopeless. Even with help from his friends, this entire plan felt doomed. Like a new look and some flirting tips would make Jaehyun fall in love with him. He might as well just suffocate now.

Jaehyun.

At just the thought of him, even more flowers were falling.

After twenty minutes, all the petals were out. Taeyong unlocked the door but fell back down to the ground. He was too drained to stand. The door was pushed open and Ten stepped in, the rest of his friends remaining at the door.

"Yong, are you okay?" He asked softly.

Taeyong nodded, even though he knew his body was shaking and his face was stained with tears. Ten reached over the fragile male, flushing the petals away before sitting down next to him, wrapping an arm over his shoulder. He felt tears rolling down his cheeks and sobs rising painfully in his throat. His friend did his best to calm him.

\---

The next morning, when Taeyong woke up, his head was pounding, but he got up nonetheless. He put on the outfit Ten had picked the day before and fixed his hair before heading downstairs.

In the kitchen, his mother was cooking breakfast, and Jisung was sat at the table, already eating. Taeyong sat down in the empty seat - his seat.

"Yongie, who are you looking so pretty for?" His mother grinned. She was always mischievous, according to his grandparents. Lots of people said they shared the same shine in their eyes when they were up to something, and the same innocence in their smiles. He believed his mother wore both much better, and much more frequently too.

"Nobody but myself," Taeyong replied, picking up a jug of juice and pouring himself some.

"Are you sure?" Jisung asked from beside him. "Is there a boy?"

"So what if there is?" He prompted, sipping his drink.

"Ah Taeyong!" His mother exclaimed. "This is the kind of thing you should ask me about!"

"Like you know anything about boys." He quipped, cheekily.

"I may be a lesbian, but I still managed to have two sons, now didn't I?" She joked, placing a plate of food in front of her older son. "I love your hair, by the way honey."

"Ten picked it," Taeyong explained, as his mother ran her hands through the freshly dyed locks.

"Ten has good taste," she smiled. "and it was about time you did something about that mop."

Once they had breakfast, Jisung and Taeyong walked to school. Taeyong was nervous.

As he walked down the hallway, everyone was chatting, except now it was about him.

"Is that Lee Taeyong? When did he get so pretty?"

He hated it. When he got to his locker, eyes were burning into his back. He just wanted to disappear. He realised quickly that he preferred blending into the background, but he would have to put up with it, to cure his disease.

A warm hand on his shoulder snapped him from his thoughts. He turned, expecting it to be one of his friends. He could've choked when he came face to face with that person. Jeong Jaehyun was smiling widely at him.

"Hey, Taeyong! Looking good," He beamed. Taeyong felt butterflies, or maybe the flowers moving around.

"Th-thank you," Taeyong stuttered out. "You're not looking bad yourself." He felt like dying when those words left his mouth, but he held it back, trying to follow Ten's advice.

"I'm having a party this Friday, starting at eight o'clock. Will I see you there?" He smiled.

"Well, maybe," Taeyong laughed a little. "If I had your address."

Jaehyun laughed with him. "It's seventy seven East Street. Bring some friends." Jaehyun smiled before walking off. Ten practically ran over once the jock was out of sight.

"What the fuck?" The thai man exclaimed as the rest of their friends joined them. "You flirted! Our baby flirted!"

"Did he invite you to his party?" Yuta asked. Taeyong nodded.

"He also said bring friends. It's this Friday at eight!" Taeyong could barely hold back his excitement. He started coughing, and turned toward his locker, his friends quickly making a human wall around him, which he appreciated greatly.

"If you flirt well with him for the rest of the week, there's a big chance you'll get dicked down at his party!" Ten exclaimed, making Taeyong cringe.

"I'm not looking to...to do THAT," Taeyong reminded. "I need him to fall in love."

"The way to a man's heart is his dick." Yuta shrugged.

\---

English class. On one hand, Taeyong loved the class. Learning to speak a different language was fun, and he got to sit right next to Jaehyun!

On the other hand, however, it had become his personal hell. With every little accidental brush of Jaehyun's arm against his, he wanted to chuck up flowers all over the desk, and although he loved learning to speak English, he was by no means fluent, so in partnered speaking tasks, when he had to speak broken English to his desk partner (who had, in fact, lived in America for four years), he wanted the ground to swallow him whole.

"Taeyong, what did you do after school yesterday?" Jaehyun asked. He said it slowly, but it still took Taeyong a few seconds to understand him.

"I, uh... with my friends, g-go to the mall," he stumbled over his words, knowing they were probably in the complete wrong order. He cringed at the sound of his heavy accent. Jaehyun was smiling at him, and he didn't know if he was just being kind, or holding back his laughter.

"Ah, you went to the mall?" he repeated. "And you got your hair done yesterday, right? It looks good."

Taeyong swallowed at Jaehyun's words, hoping it would make the rising petals stay down.

"Oh, um, thank you," he replied quietly. "What did you do yesterday?"

"I went to the gym, with Johnny, and then we played some basketball with Mark."

"Your fun?"

"Yeah, it was fun," Jaehyun chuckled at Taeyong's broken wording. "Hard work, though."

Taeyong's phone lit up on the desk, and he only took a quick glance at it before turning the screen off. Ten had texted him, and he knew the cat-like man was watching his interactions closely from a couple rows back.

TN: flirt more!! give him the bj eyes!

"Do you..a lot of working out?" Taeyong asked, tilting his head to one side.

"I do," Jaehyun grinned. "I like to stay in good shape."

Taeyong just nodded a little, glancing at the messages popping up on his phone screen.

TN: bite your lip when you think, sis!

TN: compliment his body!! OMFG SKSKSK

TN: smile more! and giggle!!

"Do you work out, Taeyong?" Jaehyun asked.

Taeyong laughed a little, as Ten instructed, and shook his head. "No, um... I'm dancer."

"Oh, that's cool!" Jaehyun was grinning at him. "I better see you on the dancefloor at my party!"

"If...the music is good," Taeyong bit his lip while he thought about the words. "Then I will... with Ten dancing!"

"Isn't Ten dating a senior?" Jaehyun seemed amused.

"Yes but... Ten like to dancing and... Kun not like."

"Ah, I see," Jaehyun paused to think of another question. "Do you like party games?"

"Party game? I like... truth or dare."

"Beer pong is my favourite," Jaehyun grinned. "There's always a lot of games at my parties."

"Ten tell me... um, you played American games too?"

Jaehyun nodded. "Yeah, like seven minutes in heaven, strip or flip, the dice game. They're all sexy games."

"How do you play?"

"In seven minutes, you get locked with someone else in a closet for seven minutes. Usually people make out in there," he laughed a bit. "For strip or flip, you flip a coin. If it lands on one side, you take off an item of clothing."

Taeyong gasped in scandal. "And you... naked?"

"Yeah, people end up naked," he laughed a little. "And in the dice game, you roll a dice to pick a body part, and then you spin a bottle, and whoever it lands on, you have to kiss that body part on them."

"Dirty." Taeyong laughed.

"Very dirty," Jaehyun agreed. "but a lot of fun. You should play."

Taeyong bit his lip. "I don't know..."

"Okay!" The teacher interrupted the class' flow of chatter. "The bell is about to go, so class dismissed."

As students filled out of the class, Ten caught up with Taeyong, linking his arm through the slim male's.

"He was hitting on you!" Ten's accent was heavier than usual, having just switched back to Korean after a full hour of speaking English.

"He was just telling me about the games..." Taeyong mumbled. "You didn't tell me they were dirty games, Ten!"

"And he asked you to PLAY THEM!" Ten practically yelled the last two words, catching the attention of a few passers by as they reached Taeyong's locker, where he dumped his English textbooks.

"I am not getting naked in front of him! And if I see him stripping, I'm bound to puke all over the place!"

"I'll rig seven minutes, then!" Ten offered. "I'll make sure you end up in a closet with him for a hot, steamy make out! Heck, you can even manage a quickie in seven minutes, I know Kun and I-"

"I don't need to hear about you and Kun having sex." Taeyong pulled his lunch pack out of his locker.

"Okay," Ten nodded. "Hey, if you play the dice game, there's a solid chance you'll get to kiss him-"

"And puke all over him? I think the fuck not, Ten!" Taeyong shut his locker to punctuate his sentence. As they turned on their heels and headed towards the lunch hall, Ten continued talking.

"Okay, so no sexy games. But, he was still hitting on you, which is a MAJOR development! He complimented your hair, which means we got your look right, he said he wants to see you on the dance floor, which is code for IN HIS BED and notice how you managed to NOT puke up flowers while you were flirting with him?"

Taeyong had to admit, Ten did have a point. Even though he felt flowers rising at first, he managed to control it and ignore them for the rest of the interaction. However, through out this post-interactional conversation with the Thai male, he had suddenly become aware that they wanted out soon.

"Okay, so I get through the interaction," Taeyong admitted. "But then the flowers still need to come up later! It's all I've been feeling since we left class, Ten!"

They sat down at the lunch table, where the others were already waiting. Taeyong opened his lunch pack.

"Okay, so you puke after, but you're not puking on him," Ten said.

"What's this about?" Kun questioned, putting a piece of chicken in his mouth.

"Taeyong flirted with Jaehyun successfully in English class and was even getting hit on back," Ten explained.

"Wait, when you're in English class, don't you have to speak in English?" Doyoung raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Taeyong was flirting with Jaehyun in English, keep up Doyoung!" Ten clapped his hands in the bunny-like man's face.

"What were they talking about?" Yuta piled some of his veggies onto Winwin's plate as he spoke.

"Well first Jaehyun complimented his hair, then said he wants to see Taeyong on the dance floor at his party-"

"You're not giving context!" Taeyong cut in. "I told him I'm a dancer and then he said that."

"He still said it," Ten argued, rolling his eyes as he turned back to Yuta. "Then, after explaining all the dirty American games to him, he said Taeyong should play them!"

"He wants to fuck," Winwin shoved some food into his mouth.

"See! Winwin knows it and he can't even speak Korean that well!" Ten exclaimed.


	4. Chapter 4

Friday night came quickly, and at seven o'clock, Ten was holding Taeyong's hair back for him while he threw up in his en-suite bathroom.

"Well, I guess it is better that you get them up now than at the party," Ten mumbled as Taeyong slumped over the toilet, no longer heaving, but catching his breath.

"I'm not gonna drink tonight," the slim male reached up to flush the toilet and dragged himself up from the floor to rinse his mouth out at the sink.

"Probably for the best," Ten agreed. "Let's get you glammed up. We've got half an hour until Kun picks us up."

Taeyong allowed Ten to sit him down at his desk and start doing his make up. Ten decided to go more glitzy on the makeup for the party, choosing a dark glittery eyeshadow to brush onto Taeyong's eyelids and a coating of a nude vanilla-scented lip gloss on his lips. The outfit Ten had convinced his friend to wear was far edgier too, a long sleeve top made of a shimmering sheer black material, and the same pair of faux leather pants with criss-cross lacing up the sides, finished with a pair on black boots and a black leather choker with a silver ring.

He didn't have much time to dwell on the outfit as Kun pulled up outside at exactly seven thirty. Ten and Taeyong rushed downstairs.

"Have fun boys," Taeyong's mother said. "If you're gonna drink, pace yourselves, if you're doing drugs, buddy up and if you sleep with anyone-"

"Aigoo, eomma!" Taeyong cringed while Ten remained completely calm. Ten often said Taeyong had the coolest mom ever.

"Take this," she handed Taeyong a small pouch. "It's got condoms, lube, everything you could need."

"EOMMA!" he practically shrieked as he hurried Ten out of the door.

"Bye, Miss Lee!" Ten waved happily.

"Oh and don't inject anything! And be careful of drink spiking!" his mother yelled after them as they climbed into Kun's car and drove off.

They pulled up to Jaehyun's house at ten past eight, and the party was clearly already in full swing. Music could be heard even from front gates of the massive drive, and there were a few people sitting at the front steps, smoking. Kun and Ten marched ahead of the group, followed by Yuta and Winwin who they picked up on the way. Doyoung had decided not to come, seeing as he had a 9-5 shift at a café on Saturday and didn't think a hangover would be a fun addition to the stress of the job. Taeyong trailed behind the group, nerves making his hands shake slightly. This was it; he was entering the heart of the beast, figuratively.

"Taeyong, get your non-existent ass up here!" Ten yelled from the top of the steps. Taeyong rushed to catch up as Ten pressed the doorbell.

"Yo, come on in!" it was Mark Lee who opened the door. "Jae's in the den, setting up for some games. Drinks are in the kitchen."

"Thank you, Mark." Ten ruffled the Canadian guy's hair before linking arms with Taeyong.

Kun walked in the direction of the kitchen, saying something about going to find some friends, with Ten shouting a quick "Love you!" after him. Ten then practically dragged Taeyong to the den.

"Hey!" Jaehyun greeted them with a smile. "I'm glad you made it!"

Taeyong stayed quiet while Ten spoke up. "Thanks for inviting us! What games are we playing tonight, Jaehyun?"

"Truth or dare, never have I ever, and seven minutes in heaven." Jaehyun smiled.

"Ooh, fun. You're up to play, right, Taeyong?"

Taeyong nodded. "Yeah, sounds like fun."

"Hey, maybe we can find you a man," Ten said, before turning back to Jaehyun. "He's the only single guy in our friends' group."

"Ah, it sucks being surrounded by couples all the time, right?" Jaehyun laughed a little, and Taeyong nodded and laughed in agreement, trying to hide his nerves. "Let's hope you get set up with someone nice for seven minutes."

Taeyong felt his stomach stir at those words but ignored it.

"Did anyone get you two drinks yet?" Jaehyun asked. Ten and Taeyong both shook their heads.

"Wanna get us some, Jaehyunnie?" Ten smiled, making Jaehyun chuckle.

"Come on, let's go to the kitchen."

They followed Jaehyun, and he slid behind the bar in the corner. Of course there was an actual bar in the Jeong's kitchen.

"Are you much of a drinker, Taeyong?" Jaehyun asked. "I don't think I've actually seen you at a party before."

"He's a total lightweight." Ten snickered, taking a seat on a barstool. Taeyong followed his lead.

Jaehyun chuckled. "Is that true? Sweet. I'll mix you up something nice, don't worry."

Taeyong felt his ears flaming. "Thanks."

Jaehyun placed a red solo cup of what looked like soda mixed with something else in front of Taeyong, before placing a similar cup in front of Ten.

\---

"Taeyong, truth or dare!" Johnny was clearly tipsy, but enthusiastic as always as he yelled his question at the smaller male.

"Dare," Taeyong mumbled, taking a mouthful of his drink.

"I dare you.." Johnny paused to think, before bursting into laughter. "I dare you to make out with Jaehyun!"

Shit.

Taeyong felt the flowers rising, but he swallowed them down. Jaehyun was sitting a couple of places around from him in the circle.

"Fuck it," the very obviously drunk jock said, and moved from his seat until he was in front of Taeyong, leaning in with a hand on the back of his neck. Taeyong shut his eyes and held his breath. Their lips met, and Taeyong tensed up. The flowers wouldn't stop rising, and Jaehyun was kissing him roughly and messily, and it was just too much.

Taeyong was coughing as he ran out of the room, leaving hushed chatter and a trail of flower petals behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

Jaehyun suddenly felt a lot more sober when Taeyong had left the room. He was hit with confusion, and guilt. Had he made Taeyong uncomfortable? Upset him? It was just a game, right?

"I better check on him," Ten started to get up. "I think he's had too much to drink."

"No, I'll go," Jaehyun got up quickly, pushing Ten back into his seat. "I'm the host, I'll check he's okay and call him a ride if he needs it. You guys just keep having fun."

The room filled with chatter again and the mood lighted as Jaehyun left, the game seemingly resuming, but confusion just hit Jaehyun further as he spotted flower petals all over the place. He followed them up to the bathroom before knocking on the door. The hall was almost empty except for Haechan and some of his sophomore friends.

"That junior is in there," Haechan spoke up, gaining Jaehyun's attention. "the quiet one, with the silver hair."

"Haechan, are you oblivious?" Jaemin (Jaehyun knew him from the basketball team) cut in, turning to look at Haechan. "His name is Lee Taeyong. He's all anyone's been talking about this week."

"He looked like he needed to puke," another of the kids spoke up as he put his arm around Jaemin. Of course, if Jaemin was here, his boyfriend and personal cheerleader Jeno was too.

Jaehyun nodded, processing the words. "Okay, can you guys go down to the den, please?"

"Why?" a small guy (Jaehyun thinks his name is Renjun, but he isn't sure) raised an eyebrow. "Are you gonna fuck?"

"What?" Jaehyun exclaimed. "No, I'm gonna check he's okay."

Renjun just shrugged as the group stood up. "Hey, I'm not judging, whatever floats your boat, dude."

The hall was empty now, and it felt a lot more quiet. Jaehyun could hear Taeyong behind the door, and he knocked again.

"Taeyong?" he called. "It's me, Jaehyun. Are you okay? Can you let me in?"

He heard Taeyong heaving and gagging behind the door. He waited about five minutes before the lock clicked open.

He pushed the door, and spotted Taeyong on the floor, propped up against the side of the bathtub. He looked fragile; he was shaking, and his face was tear stained. There were a couple of flower petals stuck to his shirt.

Taeyong felt Jaehyun staring at him, and he couldn't be bothered to hide it.

"I...I have this thing called hanahaki disease," he started speaking quietly, feeling Jaehyun's attention flicking around the room. "there's flowers growing in my lungs because.." he paused and looked down at his hands. "because I'm in love with someone, and they don't love me back. I cough up and puke flower petals when I even think about them, and I'm going to suffocate because of it one day."

Jaehyun stayed silent for a few moments before sighing. "Shit, that's... that's rough, I'm sorry to hear that." he sat down next to Taeyong. "Who is it? Did you try confessing to them?"

"It's-" Taeyong tried to say it, but cut himself off, leaning over the toilet and throwing up more petals.

It took a few seconds, but Jaehyun was smart enough to put two and two together. "Oh fuck, Taeyong, I'm so sorry," he mumbled, his voice heavy with sadness as he reached over to rub Taeyong's back.

"It's fine," the smaller male kept his head over the toilet, knowing the petals would keep coming. "You can't help it."

"I wish..." Jaehyun sighed deeply before continuing. "I wish I could fall in love with you. I wanna try falling in love with you, so you don't have to suffer like this, but.."

"But it won't work because you can't fall in love by choice." Taeyong mumbled, leaning back against the bathtub again. There were tears rolling down his cheeks, and his eyeliner was smudged. At the corner of his lips, there was a small smear of blood.

Jaehyun didn't know what to say, so he just draped an arm over Taeyong's shoulder. The smaller male leaned into him and sobbed heavily, and although Jaehyun wasn't in love, those sobs hurt to hear. He was causing someone pain, he was making someone suffer... Taeyong was going to die because of him and there was nothing he could do.

The two juniors stayed curled together in that bathroom for a while.


	6. Chapter 6

Taeyong woke up in his bed alone the next morning, still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, minus the boots, which he had ditched at the front door. He felt terrible. As he sat up, he instantly began coughing up flowers again. When would this end?

\---

The two freshmen heard Taeyong's coughing through the walls as they laid in bed the next morning (fully clothed, of course. They were still too young to get up to anything, even if Jisung's mother was insistent on the fact that it was okay as long as they were safe).

"Do you think Taeyong is sick?" Jisung asked out of nowhere. "I've heard him coughing since the start of last week."

"I'm sure he's fine," Chenle replied, "but maybe we could... do some spying?"

"Spying?" Jisung raised his eyebrow at his boyfriend, who was smiling.

"I mean, don't you think it's weird he wanted to change his look so suddenly?" Chenle rolled onto his front, still looking at Jisung. "And I heard some rumors from Renjun that he was acting weird at the party last night."

"Taeyong? At a party?" Jisung was surprised. The only parties he had ever heard of Taeyong going to were 'Girls night' sleepovers (which had no girls. It was just Taeyong, Ten, Yuta and Doyoung watching chick-flicks and eating junk). "Maybe he likes someone."

Chenle gasped. "Jisung, what if he has hanahaki disease?" the Chinese male exclaimed. Jisung sighed, shaking his head as he laid back down.

"No one actually gets that, Chenle," he shut his eyes. "it's just in stories."

Chenle hummed and laid back down, snuggling up to his boyfriend. "I guess you're right."

\---

The weekend passed by quickly, and on Monday, Taeyong stood alone by his locked, tidying up and trying to look busy as he waited for his friends. He didn't feel like dressing up for school that morning, so we just wore a hoodie and jeans.

A hand was on his shoulder, and when he turned, he came face to face with Jaehyun. The jock wore a frown, and he had slight bags under his eyes, like he hadn't slept the last couple of nights.

"Taeyong, are you okay?" he asked, concern strong in his voice.

The smaller male nodded. "I'm fine. Did you need something?" the question sounded harsh, and it came out with a defensive edge that Taeyong hadn't meant to add.

"I just wanted to check on you. I'll see you in second period, okay?" Jaehyun smiled slightly and turned, walking to join his friends.

"What was that about?" Ten asked, appearing out of seemingly nowhere, dragging Kun along behind him.

"Nothing." Taeyong slammed his locker shut and leaned against the cold metal.

"What happened on Friday?" Kun spoke up, tone soft. "You disappeared after truth or dare. Are you okay?"

"I had to throw up." Taeyong mumbled. "And then I talked to Jaehyun, and..."

"And?" Ten raised an eyebrow.

"And," Taeyong sighed. "I told him."

"You told him?" Ten exclaimed.

"He saw the flowers, and I just couldn't be bothered to hide it anymore." Taeyong looked down. "So I explained to him, and then he stayed with me until they stopped coming up, and then I called a cab and went home."

"Shit," Kun mumbled. "What did he say?"

"He said he was sorry."

\---

English class came around and once again, Taeyong was a ball of nerves. He was facing Jaehyun. They had to speak in English together again. Did this teacher enjoy watching her students suffer?

"Did you do much this weekend?" Jaehyun asked. He was clearly sticking to small talk because he didn't know what else to say. Taeyong appreciated that he was trying, at least.

Taeyong shook his head. "Sick," he mumbled.

"That sucks..." Jaehyun trailed off.

"What did you do?" Taeyong desperately wanted for this conversation to feel less awkward.

"Well, I spent Satuday cleaning the house up," he smiled a bit. "and on Sunday, I was making a plan."

"Plan?" Taeyong repeated, tilting his head.

"Yeah, a plan. I'm just hoping it goes well, now."

Taeyong nodded. "Good luck," he bit his lip a little, and prayed this class would end soon.

\---

It was lunchtime and Taeyong was at his usual table in the cafeteria, surrounded by his friends who, much like every other day of this past week, were discussing his tragic love life.

"Taeyong, have you planned your funeral?" Doyoung scooped up some rice on a spoon, which fell off as Ten hit his arm as a warning. "I'm being serious, you could drop dead any day now!"

"No, he didn't plan his funeral!" Ten debated slapping his friend in the face. "Jesus Christ, show some respect, dickwad!"

"It's fine," Taeyong mumbled. He wasn't really eating his food, just pushing it around. "I didn't plan it. Actually, I didn't even tell Eomma and Jisung what's going on yet."

"Are you going to?" Kun raised an eyebrow in concern.

"No, I can't. I can't just tell them I'm going to die because of some guy. They'll be distraught."

The conversation was going down a dark path, but it was interrupted as Taeyong felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and came face to face with Jaehyun.

"Hey, I need to talk to you," the jock said. "Can we go somewhere private?"

Taeyong didn't particularly know why Jaehyun was suddenly asking to talk, but he was thankful for his way out of this chat, so he stood up, placing his almost untouched lunch in front of Winwin (the Chinese male, like always, appreciated it greatly). The two left the cafeteria together.

\---

"What does he mean?" Jisung whispered to Chenle, from their hiding spot behind a potted plant in the cafeteria. Said plant was within eavesdropping distance to Taeyong's usual lunch table. "Does someone want to kill him?"

"I'm telling you, it sounds like hanahaki!" Chenle exclaimed.

"No way! That's bogus!" Jisung shoved his boyfriend lightly. "He must've got caught up in something! That's why Ten was helping him change his look, so that whoever's after him can't find him!"

"Do you think it's drugs?" Chenle tilted his head. The question earned him a smack on the arm. "Ow!"

"Dude, don't say that!" he looked back at the table. "Let's keep spying until we have solid proof."

\---

Jaehyun lead him out to the bleachers. No one was out there, since there wasn't a team practicing today. Taeyong shuddered slightly from the cold air as he sat down next to the taller man.

"So, um," Jaehyun cleared his throat. "I think I want to try falling in love with you, like dating you, I mean." he stopped to try and read Taeyong's reaction, but the dancer had looked away from him.

"A-are you joking?"

"No, of course not!" Jaehyun exclaimed. He promptly calmed himself, sighing slightly. "I thought that maybe, if we date, I might be able to fall in love and you won't... you know."

"I won't die?" Taeyong mumbled. "Shouldn't you be fine with saying that if we're going to try this?"

"And even if I can't fall in love," Jaehyun continued. The interesting words caught Taeyong's attention. "Even if we can't CURE you... I'd want to make you happy, for however long you have left..."

As they trailed into silence, Taeyong felt all the petals shifting. He turned his head to one side, coughing a yellow petal onto his palm before brushing it off.

"You make it sound like..." he felt a little bad for finding this thought so funny that he had to stop and laugh, but he managed to continue it. "You make it sound like some shitty teen movie."

"Well, if living in a shitty teen movie will make you happy, I'll make it happen." Jaehyun chuckled. He wrapped an arm around Taeyong's shoulders when he realised the smaller male was shaking persistently. "What do you say, Taeyong? Will you let me date you?"

Taeyong nodded, smiling a little. "We can try.."

The two settled into a comfortable silence.


	7. Chapter 7

"Eomma," Jisung was sitting at the kitchen table, while his mother was preparing dinner. Taeyong was spending this Friday night at Yuta's, so it was just Jisung, his mother and Chenle, who was sprawled out on the couch in the next room, trying to find a good movie for them to watch while they ate. "I need to talk to you about something," he stated, feeling nervous.

Jisung and Chenle had spent the past week spying on Taeyong. Jisung still felt bad about invading his brother's privacy in such a way, but he was worried, and he knew Taeyong would never tell him that something was wrong. The freshmen had been able to find out where Taeyong would be and when, thanks to Winwin and Kun, who chatted a little too loudly about the group's plans at their daily Korean support. Chenle overheard, and reported back to Jisung. The two had been following Taeyong like a shadow for the past week, but hadn't found out that much.

He had started dating someone.

"That's Jeong Jaehyun!" Chenle had whispered frantically, when the two spotted Taeyong and another junior looking a little cozy next to his locker. "Your brother is dating the most popular guy in this school!"

According to the conversations they had listened to in the cafeteria this past week, dating Jaehyun could somehow help Taeyong out of what he had gotten into, if all went well. The freshmen had practically interrogated Mark Lee, the leader and eldest member of Dream Club to find out where Jaehyun was taking Taeyong on Wednesday night, almost immediately after hearing him invite Taeyong out on a date.

"They're going to the arcade, and then the diner for food after," Mark had raised an eyebrow at the two, looking concerned "Are you two okay?"

Needless to say, they spent all of Wednesday night spying on the couple. The only conclusion they came to was that Jaehyun treated Taeyong well. The smaller of the two had been practically buzzing with anxiety at the start of the evening, but ended up spending most of the night smiling.

It was Thursday when the break through happened.

The freshmen couple had hitched a ride in the back of Kun's car again after school. The group was going to the mall. Jisung and Chenle were watching them wherever they went, equipped with a pair of binoculars each, hiding behind potted plants, blending in with fellow shoppers, and posing with mannequins to go unnoticed.

They were in the food court when it happened, posted up at a nearby table. The friends where chatting happily together.

"So, Yongie," Ten smiled slyly. "You didn't tell us how your date yesterday went!"

"It was," Taeyong hesitated, not meeting anyone's eyes. "Nice. We went to the arcade and then-" he cut himself off with a cough.

Jisung's eyes grew wide, and he turned to Chenle to check that he saw correctly. He had.

His older brother had just coughed up a blue petal, which was now on the tiled floor of the food court.

"What is it, Jisung?" his mother's voice snapped him from his thoughts. He took a deep breath.

\---

"I'm back!" Taeyong called out, as he entered his home on Saturday afternoon. Almost immediately, the house felt too quiet. Was anyone even home?

"Sweetheart," his mother called back, answering his question. "Come in here please."

Taeyong stepped into the living room. His mother and Jisung were sat on separate couches. Worry hit him when he saw the serious expressions they wore.

"Are you okay? Did something-" he began to ask, but his mother cut him off.

"Sit down, please." she gestured to the space beside her.

Taeyong did as he was told. "Eomma, what's wrong? Is it Halmeoni again?"

She shook her head. She looked like she was on the brink of tears. Jisung was already crying, his sniffling filling the small silences.

"No, sweetheart," her voice cracked. "It's you."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Taeyong broke down instantly.

"I'm sorry, Eomma," he managed through heavy sobs. His mother wrapped her arms around him, and he leaned into her shoulder.

"Why didn't you tell me, baby?" she asked. She sounded like the calmest person in the room, but her tears were still falling.

"Didn't want you to worry," he mumbled, lifting his head up. He saw Jisung, curled into himself on the other couch, sobbing heavily. He went to his younger brother and hugged him tight.

"Wh-who is he, hyung?" the younger managed to stutter out. "Is it Jaehyun?"

Taeyong nodded, smiling sadly. He should've known his younger brother would find out.

"Is he taking care of you?" Jisung looked up at him. "S-seem happy with him."

Taeyong smiled again. "He's been treating me like a prince ever since he found out." he laughed a little.

"He-" his mother sobbed suddenly between her words, but managed to continue. "He sounds like a nice guy, sweetie. You should have him over for movie night."

"I'll ask him over," Taeyong nodded, looking down. "I-I really don't want you guys to treat me like I'm d-dying or anything... just treat me like normal."

"Of course, baby." his mother got up and joined her boys on the other couch, wrapping her arms around them both.

The family fell silent. The only sounds in the room were sniffling and their attempts to soothe each other.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading. Please follow me on twitter @kittikki


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